Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
Public Transportation
Driving cars everyday is taking a huge toll on our planet. Using a type of public transportation can reduce carbon emissions and can save people money as well. According to the American Public Transportation Association "Households that use public transportation save an average of more than $8,000 every year" and "U.S. public transportation saves 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually", meaning you could be saving money while also saving the environment. Metro buses seat about 30 to 40 people in one automobile, so that's 30 to 40 people who aren't driving in 30 different cars and rather sharing their commute with others. If even more people decide to take the train or bus to school or work everyday, it could significantly decrease the amount of polluting materials that affect the environment. Personally, the biggest percentage of my carbon footprint was transportation, so I may end up joining those 30 people occasionally.
Transportation is my biggest part of my carbon footprint too. My family always uses cars and we never use public transportation. But I would definitely give it a try in order to decrease my carbon footprint. When traveling shorter distances, biking and walking are great ideas. You will save money and you will also get exercise!